Carpenter&#39;s laying-out tool.



G. MYERS. GARPENTER'S LAYING-OUT TOGL. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 16, 1911.

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.G. MYERS. v GARPENTERS LAYING-OUT TOOL. APPLICATION FILED J UKE 16, 1 911,

Patented Apr. 30, 1912.

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} WITNESSES: mvznron' GURNEY MYERS, OF LANSDALE, PENNSYLVANIA.

CARPENTERS LAYING-OUT TOOL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 30, 1912.

Application filed June 16, 1911. Serial No. 633,578.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, GUnNnY MYERs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lansdale, in the county of Montgomery and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Carpenters Laying-Out Tools, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to carpenters laying-out tools, and in such connection it has particular relation to a device adapted for use in connection with carpenters squares, and also independently, for laying out the various timbers used in forming buildings and other structures.

The principal object of my invention is to provide a simple and efiicient device for laying out structural timbers and for readily ascertaining the lengths thereof by a graphical method and which device may be readily and quickly manipulated, having no undue complications to the end that the same may be particularly useful in practical carpentry as it may be readily used for its designed purposes by any mechanic of ordinary attainments. My device is also useful in laying out stair work and the like and many other uses for the tool will be obvious to the mechanic.

The nature and characteristic features of my invention will be more readily understood from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming part hereof, in which Figure 1 is a plan view of a device embodying the main features of my present in vention, the same being shown in connection with an ordinary carpenters square; Fig. 2 is a transverse section thereof, slightly enlarged, taken approximately on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a slide head or block constituting one of the principal elements of my present invention;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary plan view of the pivot end of a swinging graduated blade employed in the device; Fig. 5 is an underneath plan view of a portion of the structure shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is a front view of the slide head or block partly in elevation, and partly in section, the section being taken approximately on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a side elevation of a clamping mem ber employed in the device; and Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 5, but showing a modified form of the slide head.

Referring to the drawings, in the particular .embodiment of my invention therein shown, 10 is a slide head having a straight working edge 11 and an upwardly projecting threaded stud 12, the center of which stud coincides with the plane of the straight edge 11 of the head 10. Surrounding the base of the stud 12 is a semi-circular recess 13 and a projecting flange 14 which extends outwardly beyond the straight edge 11 to form a support for a swinging graduated blade to be hereinafter described. The stud 12 is threaded except for a small portion 15 near the base thereof, and a semi-circular aperture 16 extends entirely through said stud. The flat inner wall of the aperture 16 coincides with the plane of the straight edge 11, and is provided with an index mark 18 which lies in the exact center of the stud 12. Mounted on the stud 12 is a swinging graduated blade 20, the pivot end of which is clearly shown in Fig. 4 and comprises a circular aperture 21 which engages the stud 12, the aperture being surrounded by a sector ring 22. The center of the aperture 21 at the end of the swinging graduated blade 20 lies on the prolongation of the graduated edge 23 of the graduated blade 20 and is the theoretical point of commencement of the graduations on said blade. For the purpose of clearness the finer graduations as well as the graduation numerals are omitted from the drawings. Superposed over the sector 22 and surrounding the stud 12 is a washer 24 which is provided with a projection 25, which projection engages a recess 26 which is cut in the slide head 10 so that said washer 24 will be locked against rotation on the stud 12. Threaded on the stud 12 above the washer 24 is a knurled hand nut 45 which serves to clamp the swinging graduated blade 20 in any desired position, the washer 24, which is locked against rotation as hereinbefore set forth, serving to prevent the rotary motion of the clamping nut 45 from being communicated to the swinging blade 20 when it is desired to clamp the same at a fixed angle. By removing the hand nut 45 and Washer 24 the blade 20 may be reversed so that the apparatus may be used on either the arm or either face of the carpenters square as oocasion may require.

In the underside of the slide head or block 10 there are cut two transverse dovetail slots 46 which receive the complementally formed clamping members 27 which are shown in detail in Fig. 7. The clamping members 27 are provided at one end with a hook extension 28 and at the other end with a set screw 29. The set screw is adapted to bear against the outer edge of the slide head or block 10 while the hook extensions 28 en gage the inner edge of the carpenters square and thereby serve to clamp the slide head 10 securely to said carpenters square at any desired position along either of the blades thereof. The clamping members 27 are cut out for a portion of their length as at 30 where they extend across the back surface of the blade 31 of the carpentei"s square which may also rest closely against the under side of the extending flange 14 of the slide head 10 as clearly shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. The cut out portion 30 of each clamping member 27 is also of such length that by retracting the clamping members 27 a suflicient distance when the device is disconnected from the carpenters square, the clamping member will no longer engage the inner inclined surfaces of the dovetail slot 46, and thereby the clamping member may be readily removed when it 1s desired to use the device otherwise than in connection with the carpenters square.

The apparatus is also provided with a protractor which comprises a semi-circular plate 32, suitably graduated, and having extensions 33 which are mounted in recesses 34 in the slide head or block 10 and which are apertured for the passage of clamping screws 35 which are threaded into the slide head 10. The graduations of the protract-or 82 are laid out from the center of the stud as a base.

The modified form of the apparatus shown in Fig. 8 is substantially identical with that hereinbefore described with the exception that the aperture 16 in the stud. 12 is circular in this instance, instead of semi-circular, and there is provided a marker plate 37 mounted in a suitable recess 38 in the under side of the slide head 10 and extending into the aperture 16 and terminating in a point 39 which coincides with the center of the stud 12 and takes the place of the index mark 18 on the inner flat surface 17 of the stud as in the structure as shown in Figs. 1 to 6.

The operation of the device is as follows .'-lVhere it is desired to ascertain the length of a roof rafter or other similar structural timber, the slide head 10 is brought to a position on the carpenters square so that the index mark 18 will coincide with the graduation on the blade of the carpenters square which corresponds to the scaled horizontal projection of the timber. The knurled nut 45, being slightly loosened so that the blade 20 may be swung about the center which it will be noted coincides with the index mark 18, the blade 20 is then swung to a position corresponding to the scaled dimension of the vertical projection of the timber on the other blade of the square, and the proper length of the timber may then be read along the graduated edge of the blade 20. TV here the shape of the building structure is given in degrees instead of the horizontal and vertical projections, the prot-ractor 32 may be employed in lieu of the carpenters square, or the same may be used in conjunction with the carponters square to ascertain the number of degrees of inclination from any given dimensions in the horizontal and vertical projections. It will also be seen that the shape or angles of the cuts of the timbers may be initially set on the instrument by the use in connection with the same of either the carpenters square or the prot-ractor, and that then the square or protractor, as the case may be, may be removed and the apparatus used to lay out the shape or angles of the cuts directly on the timbers.

From the foregoing brief explanation a multitude of other uses for the device will be quite apparent to those skilled in the art which is needless to set forth here in detail.

Having thus described the nature and characteristic features of my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Let ters Patent is 1. in a device of the character described, a slide head, a stud carried thereby, said stud having an aperture extending therethrough, means for visually indicating the center of said stud, a blade pivotally mounted on said stud adapted to swing about the center thereof, and removable clamping members mounted in dovetail slots on the under side of said slide head.

2. In a device of the character described, a slide head, a threaded stud carried thereby, said stud having an aperture extending therethrough, means for visually indicating the center of said stud, a blade pivotally mounted on said stud and adapted to swing about the center thereof, a washer mounted on said stud over said blade, means to prevent rotary motion of said washer, and a knurled hand nut threaded on said stud adapted to clamp the blade against pivotal movement.

3. In a device of the character described, a slide head, a stud carried thereby, said stud having an aperture extending therethrough, means for visually indicating the center of said stud, a blade pivotally mounted on said stud and adapted to swing about said center thereof, and removable clamping members mounted in dovetail slots on the under side of said slide head, said clamping members each having a hook extension at one end adapted to engage one edge of a carpenters square and carrying a clamping screw at the other end bearing against the outer edge of the slide head.

4. In adevice of the character described, a slide head having a straight working edge, a stud carried by said slide head, said stud having a semi-circular aperture extending therethrough, and a flat side of said semicircular aperture being in a plane coincident with the straight working edge of the slide head, an index mark on said flat side of said aperture, said index mark being coincident with the center of said stud, and a graduated scale blade pivotally mounted on said stud and adapted to swing about said index mark as a center.

5. In a device of the character described, a slide head having a straight working edge, a stud carried by said slide head, said stud having a semi-circular aperture extending therethrough, and the flat side of said semicircular aperture being in a plane coincident with the straight working edge of the slide head, an index mark on said flat side of said aperture, said index mark being coincident with the center of said stud, and a graduated scale blade pivotally mounted on said stud and adapted to swing about the said index mark as a center, said graduated scale blade having a graduated edge in alinement with the said mark.

6. In a device of the character described, a slide head having a straight working edge,

a stud carried by said slide head, said stud having a semi'circular aperture extending therethrough and the flat side of said semicircular aperture being in a plane coincident with the straight working edge of the slide head, an index mark on said flat side of said aperture, said index mark being coincident with the center of said stud, and a graduated scale blade pivotally mounted on said stud and adapted to swing about the said index mark as a center, said graduated scale blade having a graduated edge in alinement with the said index mark and having the theoretical commencement point of the graduations coincident with said index mark.

7 In a device of the character-described, a slide head having a straight working edge,

a stud carried by said slide head, said stud having a semi-circular aperture extending therethrough and the flat side of said semicircular aperture being in a plane coincident with the straight working edge of the slide head, an index mark on said flat side of said aperture, said index mark being coincident with the center of said stud, a graduated scale blade pivotally mounted on said stud and adapted to swing about the said index mark as a center, said graduated scale blade having a graduated edge in alinement with said index mark and having the theoretical commencement point of the graduations coincident with said index mark, and a removable protractor adapted to be attached to said slide head and being graduated about said mark as a base center.

8. In a device of the character described a slide head having a straight working edge, a stud carried by said slide head, said stud having an aperture extending therethrough, and having its center lying in the plane of the working edge of said slide head, means for visually indicating the center of said stud, a graduated scale blade pivotally mounted on said stud and adapted to swing about the center thereof, and means for holding the working edge of the slide head against the edge of a carpenters square.

9. In a device of the character described a slide head having a straight working edge, a stud carried by said slide head, said stud having an aperture extending therethrough, and having its center lying in the plane of the working edge of said slide head, means for visually indicating the center of said stud, a graduated scale blade pivotally mounted on said stud and adapted to swing about the center thereof, means for holding the working edge of the slide head against the edge of a carpenters square, and means mounted on the stud for clamping the blade in fixed positions.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two witnesses.

GURNEY MYERS. WVitnesses:

A. D. JOHNSON, MAZIE J. MOYER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C. 

